


A Collection

by chilerelleno



Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Demon Ciel Phantomhive, F/M, Kuroshitsuji II | Black Butler II, Last Dance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 07:12:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14806737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chilerelleno/pseuds/chilerelleno
Summary: A collection of Black Butler one-shots.





	A Collection

**Author's Note:**

> Summary: Years after becoming a demon, Ciel visits his fiancée one last time. 
> 
> This is my first completed fic for this fandom. As such, characterization may be off. Let me know if it is so I can fix it. This is still a bit of a draft, as I'm waiting for it to be critiqued on another site. This has also been cross-posted to FF.net. Anyway, if you have any thoughts - good, bad, or indifferent - speak up! Thanks for checking out my fic! <3

"Would you honor me with this dance?"

A green eye opened, and Ciel brightened.

He lifted the blankets off his almost-wife, gingerly unwrapping her. They had put her in her night dress, a white affair that offset her pale skin.

"I don't think I can do it," Elizabeth murmured, as if he had woken her from a fever dream. She let out a cough that rung deep in her chest.

"We can go slow. Your choice."

Ciel clasped her hand.

He could understand that she didn't want to move. No matter what she chose, he'd hold her like this.

Her fingers trembled in his grasp like dead leaves being shifted by a cold autumn breeze. That season reminded Ciel of changes - bad ones.

Lost time, violence. And the world condoned it with the way it turned its landscape on its head to match. All these years later, it continued. It wasn't like Hell, Ciel's new home. That place never stayed the same, because the demons that inhabited it couldn't endure the eternity they were cursed to live.

Somehow, this slow death his cousin was experiencing was worse. It never ended, but yet promised some sort of sweet quietude if she just remained strong and didn't lose faith. She didn't know it, but there waited for her on the other side judgment by a wrathful God. Perhaps if she passed the test, so too would be there for her the tortuous home for the lost and wandering: Heaven.

"What are you going to make me do?" came the quiet, but fiery question.

Ciel smiled.

"A Viennese waltz. Remember?" He cleared his throat. "Does that mean you want to?"

A long moment passed in silence. He watched her for a response, and it was just as he was turning his neck to check the time that he saw her nod, weak and slight.

He helped her up into a sitting position. In some ways, she looked just as she had when she was a teenager. The soft cheeks, the delicate wrists. She was still his girl, and always would be.

"At least it's not a polka or some swing thing," she said finally, refusing to look up at him. Long, stringy grey hair hung in her face the way it might for a ragdoll.

In that instant, looking as she did, Ciel decided that nothing could take this moment from him.

No matter that downcast look, no matter her condition, no matter their past.

He wouldn't let - couldn't let - it be ruined.

_Just one dance. ___

____

She put one foot after the other onto the floor, hesitant to stand.

____

"You can lean on me," Ciel said. "But we don't have to do this if all's not right."

____

Elizabeth stuck her tongue out, and he tried to keep himself from laughing. He succeeded by biting his lip and breathing slow.

____

After a beat, she held out her shivering arms. Taking the hint, he pulled her up easily to her feet, and she held fast to his shoulders.

____

"Just promise me you'll look me in the eye at least once tonight," Ciel added, a bit of a challenge in his voice.

____

A hint of a laugh hung in the air.

____

"Maybe," she teased.

____

"Like looking at the carpet better?"

____

"It isn't the original. They installed a new one ten years ago."

____

"As fun as discussing the history of the carpet of the Glendinning Manor is, I believe you promised me something," Ciel prompted. His former fiancée sighed, and gestured toward the open space by the armoire.

____

_That's it. ___

______ _ _

He backed up, keeping an eye on both his partner and the piece of furniture.

______ _ _

Elizabeth's legs wobbled. She dug her nails into the boy, gripping him for dear life. Although she kept her eyes low, her expression conveyed everything - her turned up mouth, her cinched eyebrows.

______ _ _

She was afraid.

______ _ _

He didn't like her shyness, her hesitancy. Had age warped her personality into something bent and haggard?

______ _ _

Ciel stretched her arm out in the appropriate style and began to spin.

______ _ _

"What troubles you, Lizzy?" he asked as he put his right foot forward.

______ _ _

"Keep your attention to the dance," she replied. "I remember how you could trip over your own feet."

______ _ _

"At the present time I think I'm much be -"

______ _ _

"I have to keep my concentration too, you know."

______ _ _

"Would you mind if I count, then?" Ciel asked.

______ _ _

Elizabeth shrugged, a sort of dewiness coming over her features.

______ _ _

Ciel brushed a lock of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. He didn't lose a bit of time.

______ _ _

"One, two, three," he whispered. "Two, two, three."

______ _ _

He was amazed at his almost-wife's muscle memory. She missed a few steps here and there, but he adapted to her movements swiftly, careful to keep to the beat.

______ _ _

Yet although she managed - albeit slowly - to keep up, she seemed a bit dazed, as if half asleep. Although he didn't want to drag her along, he continued to move fiercely, his feet rotating in a soundless blur.

______ _ _

_Wake up._

______ _ _

_Wake_ up.

______ _ _

"Elizabeth," he said. He would stop if she couldn't righten herself. "How are you?"

______ _ _

Demons were little better than dogs when it came to detecting disease and how long a person had to live. He didn't dare venture a guess as to her state.

______ _ _

He slowed for her sake.

______ _ _

"No need to do that. I was just starting to get comfortable." She turned her head, but didn't look at him.

______ _ _

The boy hesitated. He could feel her frailty. She drooped like a dying rose.

______ _ _

"We can stop any time," he said.

______ _ _

She shook her head.

______ _ _

"No, Ciel. I was promised this. I can do it. Sick though I may be, I will make it through." She patted him on the shoulder and straightened herself out, her legs begrudgingly following suit.

______ _ _

Polio.

______ _ _

It stiffened her calves with every movement, made her arms jerk. Her body groaned with the effort.

______ _ _

Ciel nodded as if he understood, though a blue note of confusion tainted his eagerness to continue their midnight rendezvous.

______ _ _

Time had turned her timid, with generosity had come illness - but for a sad little waltz that doubtlessly reminded her of her decline, she would forge on. For her sake, was it? His?

______ _ _

Again he had met her stubbornness. It knew neither black nor white, sense from credulity, nor reason from daydreams.

______ _ _

He continued, though thoughts still haunted him.

______ _ _

When he was a man he had acquainted himself with the idea that humans cling to certain things to make them feel in control; perhaps holding her ground was Elizabeth's way of not flying off into a sea of disturbing thoughts. It made her, her and would keep her firmly attached to the trappings of this world and not the next.

______ _ _

It kept her from dying.

______ _ _

"You missed a count," she commented, a sly grin slipping onto her lips.

______ _ _

Ciel didn't scoff. He just spun lightly, criss-crossing his legs and doubling back, taking her with him. " _Three_ , two, three," he emphasized, carrying her slightly faster. She giggled.

______ _ _

As they turned, her smile grew all the wider, revealing two neat rows of yellowing teeth.

______ _ _

He responded in kind, the corners of his lips twisting up into a wicked smirk.

______ _ _

" _Four_ , two, three."

______ _ _

"Faster, Ciel, faster!" she screeched.

______ _ _

" _One_ , two, three."

______ _ _

He didn't want to fight with her, not like last night. No one was here to put a stop their messy entanglements, which still ballooned like they had all those years ago - a snigger here, a snappish comment there, a sniffle, a bark, a yelp, a cry, then the whole jungle loosed.

______ _ _

Despite how he thought he had matured, he still couldn't hold back when a particularly strong opinion bubbled up to the surface. Couldn't contain himself when his pride had been insulted. If anything, he was more dangerous now: he had lost all his dignity by losing to That Boy, and his insatiable need to have a purpose drove a new hunger that tore through him harder, faster and stronger than any desire for the soul of a man on the precipice of defeat could.

______ _ _

He wanted release.

______ _ _

He wanted blood.

______ _ _

He wanted -

______ _ _

_Thwack._

______ _ _

"Ciel, you went too fast."

______ _ _

Someone must have tripped and knocked the both of them off their feet. Ciel rubbed his head gently - he had smacked a ledge on the armoire hard - and lifted himself off the floor.

______ _ _

Before he could grab her, Elizabeth went into a fit. Clawing at her throat, she gagged on air. Her eyes screamed out a single tone of warning, bright and fearful, before she collapsed on her side.

______ _ _

"Lizzy!" Ciel shouted. He shook her. "Lizzy!"

______ _ _

He crawled up beside her and peeled open an eyelid. She didn't move the organ on her own, but she was still breathing in spurts.

______ _ _

She needed an iron lung. She needed - she needed -

______ _ _

"Come now, don't do this to me." He sat up and pulled her close, propping her up. She sputtered.

______ _ _

The cold December wind blew outside, carrying with it flurries. Despite himself, Ciel shivered. He shouldn't have asked her to do this. If he hadn't asked her to do this, she wouldn't have felt sick. Any other wish, any other time -

______ _ _

"Ciel -"

______ _ _

He snapped out of his self-pitying reverie.

______ _ _

"We can still dance, you know" - cough - "if you'd like. I'm fine. In fact" - cough - "I'd be very pleased if you'd allow me to continue. I know how you can be." She lifted an ivory hand to his shoulder and let out a shuddering, rough chuckle. She smelled of dry sinew, or something eking out its existence on a scorching hot road in the middle of a Bengali summer.

______ _ _

"Elizabeth," he began harshly. "I'm going to get the nurse."

______ _ _

A wary eye danced across his gaze, not meeting the intensity of his stare.

______ _ _

"You promised."

______ _ _

Her chest stiffened as she tried to breathe deeper; her body had begun to fight her.

______ _ _

"I believe you stipulated that we dance _one_ dance and that -"

______ _ _

"You're so silly. You used to be a businessman. You dealt with contracts. You" - cough - "know their nature."

______ _ _

Ciel froze.

______ _ _

"This is my contract. Dance with me until I fall asleep," she demanded.

______ _ _

He chortled, startling her.

______ _ _

Such a loaded phrase. As if she needed to say it to get his attention. He twirled around his finger a bit of her hair that had fallen out place, a leer spreading from one end of his face to the other in the slow, secretive way of demons. He didn't mind staying in this position all night, just taking in the way her eyes creased and the lines that appeared when a smile tugged at her lips.

______ _ _

"Oh Lizzy," he sighed. He found he couldn't keep to his strict ways around her, even in death. "Do you really want to risk dying? We already fell down once." He prodded her side, and she giggled, but didn't answer his question.

______ _ _

He couldn't deny Elizabeth's words which formed into a chant, a plea in his mind.

______ _ _

He stood up wordlessly.

______ _ _

Elizabeth, with a bit of difficulty, held out her arms once more.

______ _ _

Ciel resumed counting.

______ _ _

For a while, neither said anything to the other. They lost themselves in the slow twirls and meticulous heel-toe rocking, Ciel's low voice guiding them through each misstep and moment of doubt. As the clock edged nearer and nearer to two, Elizabeth danced away her age with the person she had so dearly protected when he couldn't himself.

______ _ _

It was pleasant, except for the ghosts of the argument they'd had yesterday which flew round his mind, trying to scare him into reliving the past. As a boy turned demon, one sentenced to look forever the embodiment of his mistakes, this was a quiet needling torture he couldn't stand.

______ _ _

It had started with her hinting at loneliness.

______ _ _

_"Whiny, ungrateful, spoilt, childish..."_ he'd said back to her. _"Despicable of someone of your rank."_

______ _ _

Then he went after for what she had, and he could no longer.

______ _ _

After all, how could he, so base and vile, appreciate the way her soul had stayed so sweet after years of undue harshness? He could only hunger for it.

______ _ _

It was foolish.

______ _ _

He should apologize. It was the gentlemanly thing to do.

______ _ _

No, it was the right thing to do.

______ _ _

_Rise up, you fool, out of the depths and say the words that you have trained yourself not to speak._

______ _ _

"Lizzy, I -"

______ _ _

"Shh. It's so peaceful. Don't ruin it."

______ _ _

"But this is important - understand? Last night we got into that big row and I didn't mean half of what I said. It was all rubbish. It was me shooting from the hip, like I tend to do, but I shouldn't have then. And you didn't deserve those remarks, and -"

______ _ _

"Oh Ciel, it's" - cough - "it's alright. I'm just glad you're here, back from the grave, to see me."

______ _ _

"But -"

______ _ _

She began coughing again, a tight, wet number that sent her leaning heavily on him.

______ _ _

He would never offer her a deal she couldn't refuse. If tonight was the night, he would let her slip into sweet, dignified death on her own, without any consequences. He couldn't allow her to live damned as he had for all these years, made to live off of others' suffering. If there were ever a chance to do anything rash and stupid, he had missed it by decades - this he thanked his younger, rage-fueled self for as Elizabeth's breathing became labored and irregular.

______ _ _

He stopped mid-step and held her close, careful not to block her airway. She waved her hands meekly. He pushed them down.

______ _ _

After another bout, he walked her over to the modern bed and sat her down, watching for any sign of improvement. Her chest seemed to be fluttering, and her skin had taken on a grey-purple pallor. He decided it was time to call the nurse.

______ _ _

But he couldn't just leave her there.

______ _ _

This, however, conflicted with the promise.

______ _ _

Wavering, waffling, fumbling, fooling. This wasn't the mark of a person that could handle himself; forget about lineage, forget about the rearing. It was unacceptable for anyone.

______ _ _

"You're going to die if I don't get you the proper assistance," Ciel bargained, hoping to shake her out of the stress that her lungs caused her. Really, he was hoping to force himself into action, too.

______ _ _

It didn't work.

______ _ _

"To your melancholy, to the way you play with people, to the lengths you would go to be seen just so -" Elizabeth started.

______ _ _

"What on earth are you on about?" Ciel said, though his frustration died out halfway through.

______ _ _

"No matter where I run, the roads always lead back to you."

______ _ _

Ciel didn't know what to say. She wasn't making sense. He loosened his grip on her, realizing he could be hurting her.

______ _ _

"I should've just moved on, but I -" She breathed, then after a moment said, "I wanted to walk. Broken legs, broken body. I'm worthless."

______ _ _

Ciel couldn't help but think Elizabeth hadn't said what she'd really wanted to say, but he held his tongue.

______ _ _

"But I couldn't stand the way we left things, so I" - cough - "asked for the only thing that could calm the hallucinations. One dance to make it real, one dance to make it right."

______ _ _

With supernatural quickness, Ciel sat her up as she began to wheeze almost uncontrollably.

______ _ _

He waited for it to pass. Hoped for it to pass.

______ _ _

When it had, at least as much as it could with her breathing reduced to a rattling, he knelt down beside her.

______ _ _

"Then I will do it. But only if you can confirm you'd like me to. This is a difficult path you're trying to embark on."

______ _ _

More hushed than a funeral came, "Do it."

______ _ _

He shortened and simplified the innocent, uncomplicated dance to two steps with no turns.

______ _ _

They paced like this for about fifteen minutes.

______ _ _

He kept going for a few after that so as if to satisfy her, though she had drifted off into the unknown as his gaze flickered from his old-fashioned boots to her button-up gown to the wrinkles lining her forehead.

______ _ _

Her breathing had slowed, his heart outpacing hers. At some point she fell limply into his arms, and he continued to hold her.

______ _ _

The snow never did stop falling.

______ _ _


End file.
